Mine car bumper



R. c. KEPNER MINE CAR BUMPER Dec. 31, 1940.

5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. l1, 1957 INVENTOR @/fepner ATTORNEY Rog??? Dec. 31, 1940. R. c. KEPNER 4 2,226,724

MINE CAR BUMPER Filed Feb. ll, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Roger? CK2/072er ATTORNEY Dec. 31', 1940. R. c.Y KEPNER MINE CAR BUMPER Filed Feb. ll, 1937 5l SheetS-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY T N( E m6 a 16 w Mm 0 ad D@ .IJ J

Dec. 3l, 1940. R. c. KEPNER 2,226,724

' MINE CAR BUMPER Filed Feb. 11, -1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES NHNE- CAR BUMPER Robert C. Kepner, Bloomsburg, Pa., assigner to n American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a. corporation of `New Jersey Application February 11, 1937, serial No. 125,208

1o claims. (o1. 21e-#9)V rlThis invention relates to improvement in bumpers and haulage structure for cars in general and in particular tosuch structures as applied to mine or industrial cars.

An object of this invention is to provide a combined bumper and haulage structure using non-metallic cushion members.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a combined bumper and haulage structure using non-metallic cushion members so arranged as to give varying amounts of resistance to 'the bumping and haulage strains.

A further object oi the invention is the provision of a non-metallic cushion member for mine car bumpers which may be readily substituted for the existing metallic cushion members.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a non-metallic cushion member for bumping and haulage structures so arranged as to give maximum possible dellection.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the approved end structure, portions being broken away tobetter disclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the cushioning element;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 'Iv is a sectional view taken` on line 1-1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a modied form of cushioning element;

Fig. 9 is a sectionalview taken of Fig. 8; y

Fig. 10 is a sectional View taken on line Ill-I0 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a modied form of end construction;

Fig. 12 is an end view of the structure shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view taken substantially on line I3--I3 of Fig. 11, and e Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken substantially on line lil-I4 of Fig. 11.

on line 9--9 Referring now to the drawings in detail it isl seen that the end structure A is secured to the side sills B which in the present case are of bulb angle cross-section. The end frame structure A is preferably pressed from a single sheet of metal and is formedby a lower or floor portion 2 which is offset upwardly as at 4 to accommodate a l5 lower bumper support plate 6. The bumper support plate Ais secured to the end frame structure by. suitable` means, such as rivets 8. The end member is also formed with an upwardly extending face portion l2 terminating in an outwardly yl0l directed ilange 'I4 which forms the top plate of the bumper structure. The face portion isjoined to the upwardly directed end portion I6, which are secured to the web of the side sill by rivets or other suitable `means 48. In order to brace 15 the upwardly directed face portion, the floor portion is pressed upwardly to form a buttress member having triangular shaped sidek portions 20 and inclined top portion 22 to which the upper` drawbar strap 24 may be secured by suitable @20 means, such as rivets 25. The upper or drawbar member is braced and held against downward deilection by means of a pair Vof triangular plates 28 preferably Welded to the drawbar member and upper flange of the end structure. It' is thuslj25 seen' that an extremely rigid one piece end member is formed which rigidly ties the side sills together. The end structure .may be cast in one piece and if desired the lower bumper support plate may project outwardly in a single plane 'L30 from the end structure. In the instance shown, however, the bottom bumper support plate is pressed in the form of a Z with a vertical web portion 30 terminating in ran outwardly directed support flange 32. It is obvious that by varying $35 the depth of theweb 30 the distance between the top and bottom bum-per support plates lmay be varied, thus permitting the use of varying ythickness cushioning elements.`

The cushioning'element as shown in Figures 1 1.40 to 7 consistsof `an angular shaped vtop orf'draft plate having a substantiallyhorizontal flange 34 terminating in an inner substantially vertical flange 36 adapted 'to abut the outer face-of the face plate I2 and of an angular shaped lower` 45 or builer plate having a horizontal flange 38 terminating in an outer vertically directed ilange 4|] adapted to abut the innerface-of the bumper cap. In order to reinforce the'angular shaped top and' bottom plates-'as well as to protect the ends of the resilient material later to be referred to, the triangular `shaped end plates 31 and 'M are provided and welded or otherwise secured to the anges 311, 36, and 38, .40 respectively of the top and bottom plates. 'Ihese triangular shaped 55 end plates are spaced sufficiently far apart as to prevent their contact with each other when the top and bottom plates move toward each other. The top plate has vulcanized thereto a slab of 5 rubber or other resilient material 42, and this slab is in turn vulcanized to one side of an intermediate metallic plate 44, the other side being vulcanized to a secondslab of rubber or resilient material 46 which is iny turn vulcanized to the lower plate. The plates are preferably provided with openings 41 through which the resilient material extends thus increasing thebond between the slabs and the plates and aiding the material to resist shear action. The top and bottom slabs of resilient material are so vulcanized to the top and botto-m plates and intermediate plate as to provide varying degrees of resistance and this is accomplished by offsetting theslabs of resilient material with respect to each other and placing the intermediate metallic plate so that a certain clearance 50 is provided between it and the upwardly directed flange 40 of the lower plate, while a greater clearance 52 is provided between the other end of the intermediate plate and the downwardly directed flange of the top or draft'plate. It is thus seen that if the lower plate is held' and the upper plate moved outwardly both slabs of resilient material will act in parallel to resist the outward movement of the upper plate, but if the outwardly directed force is suniciently great then the intermediate plate will contact flange 48 and a further outward movement of theupper plate is resisted only by the upper slab of resilient material until the flange 36 contacts the intermediate metallic plate. As soon as the flange 36 has contacted the metallic plate the unit may be termed to have gone solid and in this condition the resilient material cannot be stressed any further; The same action 40 takes place if the top plateis held and the lower plate moved inward as on buff. Since the deformation of the resilient material is proportional to its depth it is obviousthat the deformation and, therefore, the resistance varies with this "45 unit, since the depth of the resilient material is varied'by permitting the intermediate metallic plate to be held after a certain'amount of deformation has taken place.

In order that this unit may be used for bumper 50 and draft structures the upper or draft plate is `provided adjacent its central portion with an opening 54 which is preferably reinforced by a washer 56 welded or otherwise secured in place, while the intermediate and the lower or buffer 55 rplates are each provided adjacent their center portion with a slot 58 which is elongated to permitrelativemovement between the plates and the coupler pin B0. 'j

In assembling the bumper structure the re- 60 silient unit is inserted between the top and bottorn cover plates of the end structure and the bumper'cap is secured in place on the end structure by means of bolts 62 extending through holes drilled in the top and bottom cover plates. 65 These bolts' extend through elongated slots 65 in the upper and lower flanges 64 and 66 respectively and are located immediately adjacent the ends of the resilient unit to prevent its endwise shifting., The upper and lower flanges of the 70 bumper cap are also formed with an elongated slot 61 adjacent the central portion of the bumper in order to permit relative movement between the coupler pin and bumper cap. These elongated slots in the bumper cap permit under 75 draft forces the outward movement of the coupler pin together with the upper or draft plate while under buff forces the inwardly moving cap carries with it the lower or buff plate, thus deforming the slabs of resilient material as previously explained. The drawbar strap is formed with an elongated slot E3 through which the coupler pin passes andthis slot permits the outward movement of the coupler pin under draft forces. When the' draft force is applied to the coupler pin the first action is a tilting of the pin until it contacts with the front edge of the slot 68 which then acts as a fulcrum with the draft force 'acting to again bring the pin to a vertical position, but in bringing the pin to its vertical position, the upper or draft plate of the resilient unit -is moved outwardly against the variable resistance of the unit.

It is thus seen an extremely simple arrangement has been provided in which a resilient unit has `been substituted for the customary metallic springs and in which the movement of the couplin'g and buffer elements are retarded by resistances of varying amounts.

In the form shown in Figures 8 to 14 inclusive a modified form of end structure and resilient unit has been disclosed and in this form the end frame member is formed by a single pressing having a lower or floor portion 10 offset upwardly and outwardly as at 1I to merge with an upwardly directed face portion 12 which terminates in the outwardly directed top plate 13. The floor portion terminates at its edges in upwardly directed flanges 14 by means of which the member may be rigidly secured to the side sills. In order to brace the ends of the face portion small gusset plates 15 are provided which are securely welded to the flange 14 and the back of the face plate 12. The face plate is likewise braced at its central portion by upwardly pressed member having triangular portions 16 .and sloping top portion 11 which merges with the floor portion and outwardly directed flange l13. A plate 18 is securely fastened to the end `member in the offset portion by suitable means such as rivets 19 which preferably extend through a belt or binder 88 and this plate extends outwardly beyond the face plate to form a support for the bumper and draft structure.

The bumper and draft structure comprises a bumper cap member 82, a lower inwardly directed flange 83 and an upper inwardly directed flange 84, each of which are provided adjacent their ends with elongated slots 85 and adjacent their central portions with elongated slots 86. The lower flange of the bumper cap rests upon and is supported by the lower support plate 18and in turn supports the lower outwardly directed flange 81 of the U-shaped draft element. This U-shaped draft element extends substantially across the end structure and is formed with an upwardly directed web portion 88 which abuts against the face plate 12 of the end structure and with an outwardly directed flange 89 located substantially adjacent the outwardly directed flange 13 of the end structure. The upper and lower flanges of the draft member are each slotted adjacent 'their ends as at 90 and provided with holes 9| adjacent their center portion to Areceive coupler pin 92. In order to support the central portion of this coupler pin to prevent its being bent under strain a `small plate 93 is welded to the central portion of the draft web 88 and extends outwardly therefrom to engage the central portion of the coupler pin.

The resilient unit as designed for this end structure consists of an angular shaped buff plate having a substantially horizontal flange 04 terminating in a vertically directed flange 05, which is adapted to abut against the inner face of the bumper cap and to this plate is vulcanizedI one side of a slab 90 of rubber or other resilient material, the other side. being vulcanized to the horizontally extending flange 01 of the draft plate. The angular shaped draft plate is formed with a vertically directed flange 08 adapted to abut the web of the draft member for movement outwardly therewith. In this form of unit the anges 94 and 95 are tied together at their ends by triangular plates 945, while flanges 01 and 98 are likewise tied together and braced by triangular plates 018. Attention is directed to the fact that sufficient clearance is provided between the triangular shaped end plates in each form of resilient unit in order to prevent the contact of the inclined surfaces thereof which would place tensile strains on the resilient material tending to rupture the same. The horizontal flange of the buff memberv is formed adjacent its center with an outwardly elongated slot 80, while the horizontal'flange of the draft member is provided with an opening |00 which may be reinforced by a washer or other means 10| as clearly shown in Figure 9. In this form also the bond between the resilient material and the buff and draft plates is preferably increased by permitting the material to extend thro-ugh holes or other openings lil? provided in the plates.

In assembling this structure the draft member, resilient unit and bumper cap are positioned as shown and described, after which the entire assembly is inserted into the space between the supporting plate 18 and flange 13 after which bolts |04 are inserted through holes |05 provided in the flange 13 and plate 18. These bolts also extend through the slots 90 formed in the draft member and slots 85 formed in the bumper cap. It is thus seen that outward movement of the draft member is permitted, being restrained, however, by the resilient unit, while inward movement of the bumper cap is permitted under the resistance of the resilient unit. Under draft forces the draft member and coupling pin move outwardly and such movement is permitted due to the slots |01 and |08 formed respectively in the flange 13 and support plate 18. Since these slots may be subjected to considerable shock they are preferably reinforced by washers or other means l I0 welded in place.

While two forms of end constructions and resilient units have been described and shown, it is obvious that either resilient unit might be used with either end construction and it is also obvious that various changes in the form or arrangement of the resilient unit may be made and all such changes or rearrangements are ,contemplated as fall within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mine or similar car the combination of side sills, an end structure rigidly connecting the side sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a bumper cap supported by at least one of said flanges, a resilient unit removably positioned between the flanges and comprising spaced metal plates connected together by resilient material bonded to` the plates, one of said plates normally abutting the end structure and the other of said plates normally abutting the bumper cap, said plates being spaced respectively from` the'bumper cap and end structure whereby said last named plate will' move inward?A in unison'wth the bumper cap to subject saild resilient'- material to a shearing action.

2.-.1r1` a mine or similar car the combination of sidesills, an end structure rigidly connecting the vside sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a 'bumper cap supported by at least one of said flanges forv substantially horizontal movement, means retaining said bumper cap in position and preventing outward movementl thereof, a resilient unit positioned between the flangesv and comprising spaced metall plates connected -together by resilient material bonded to the plates, one of said plates abutting the bumper cap andmovable therewith, another of said plates normally abutting the end structure but spaced from the bumper cap and havingv a coupling means connected thereto whereby said plates may move relative to each other under buff and draft forces thereby sub- ,isecting saidy resilient material to a shearing ac- 3. In amine `or similar car the combination of side sills, anl end structure rigidly connecting the side sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a bumper cap supported by at least 'one of said flanges for substantially horizontal movement, means retaining said bumper cap in position and preventing outward movement thereof, a resilient unit positioned between the flanges and comprising spaced metal platesy and an intermediate metal plate connected together by resilient material bonded to the plates, one of said spaced plates normally abutting the end structure and spaced from the bumper cap, the other of said spaced plates abutting the bumper cap and movable inward therewith to subject the resilient material to a shearing action, said intermediate plate being held against movement relative to one of said spaced plates after a predetermined movement of said bumper cap.

4. In a mine or similar car the combination of side sills, an end structure rigidly connecting the side sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a bumper cap supported by at least one of said flanges for substantially horizontal movement, means retaining said bumper cap in position and preventing outward movement thereof, a resilient unit positioned between the flanges and comprising spaced metal plates and an intermediate metal plate connected together by resilient material bonded to the plates, one of said spaced plates normally abutting the end structure but spaced from the bumper cap and coupled to a draft member, the other of said spaced plates abutting the bumper cap and movable therewith, said plates being movable under draft and buff forces to subject the resilient material to a shearing action, and said intermediate plate being held against further movement relative to one of said spaced plates after a predetermined movement of the bumper cap thereby relieving a portion of the resilient material from further shear action.

5. In a mine or similar car the combination of side sills, an end structure rigidly .connecting the side sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a bumper cap supported by at least one of said flanges and having slots adjacent each end thereof, a resilient unit positioned between the flanges and comprising spaced metal plates connected together by resilient material, said material being bonded to the plates and acting in shear to resist the inward movement of the bumper cap, and fastening means extending through said end structure flanges and slots to retain the bumper cap and resilient unit in positionsaid fastening means also retaining said resilient unit against sidewise movement.

6. In a mineor similar .car the combination of side sills, ,an end structure rigidly connecting the side sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a bumper cap supported by at leastone of said flanges for substantially horizontalmovement, means retaining the bumper cap in position and preventing outward movement thereof, coupling means, a resilient unit positioned between the flanges and comprising spaced metal plates and an intermediate metal plate connected together by resilient material bonded to the plates, one of said spaced plates being held against outward movement by the bumper cap, the other of the spaced plates being held against inward movement by the end structure and movable with the coupling means, said plates being relatively movable under both draft and buff forces to subject the resilient material to a shearing action, and said intermediate plateA beingV held against further movement relative to one of said plates after a predetermined movement of either the coupling means or bumper cap thereby increasing the resistance to` further movement.

'7. In a mine or similar carthe combination of sideV sills, an end structure rigidly connecting the side sills and provided with spaced apart outwardly directed flanges, a bumper cap supported by at least one of said iianges and having slots adjacent each end thereof, a resilient unit positioned between the flanges and comprising spaced metal plates connected together by resilient material, said material being bonded to the plates and acting in shear to resist the inward movement of the bumper cap, and fastening means extending through said end structure flanges and slots to retain the bumper cap in position, said fastening means being located adjacent the ends of said resilient unit to retain the unit against endwise movement.

8. In a mine or similar car the combination oi side sills, end structure connecting the side sills, a bumper cap supported by the end structure, and a resilient unit interposed between the end structure and bumper cap, said unit` including spaced metal plates having resilient connecting material bonded thereto, at least one of said plates having one edge contacting the end structure, another of said plates having one edge contacting the bumper cap, and the other edges of said plates being spaced from the bumper cap and end structure respectively whereby said inaterial is subjected to shearing action under buil forces applied to the bumper cap'.

9. In a mine or similar car the combination of side sills, end structure connecting the side sills,

a bumper cap supported by the end structure, a

resilient unit interposed between the end structure and bumper cap, said unit including spaced metal plates having resilient connecting material bonded thereto, at least one of said plates having one edge contacting the end structure, another of said plates having one edge contacting the bumper cap, and the other edges of said plates being spaced from the bumper cap and end structure respectively, and coupler means connected to one of said plates and. movable outward therewith under draft forces to subject the resilient material to a shearing action.

10. In a mine or similar car the combination of side sills, end structure connecting the side sills, a resilient unit located outwardly of the end structure, means supported by the end structure and retaining said unit in position, said resilient unit including spaced metal plates having resilient connecting material bonded thereto, at least one of said plates having one edge contacting the end structure, another of said plates having` one edge 'contacting a portion of said means, and the other edges of said" plates being spaced from said portion of said mea-ns and end structure respectively, and coupler means connected to one of said plates and movable therewith under draft forces to subject the resilient material to a shearing action.

ROBERT C. KEPNER. 

